Star gazing of the power hungry - Focus on Gotabhaya

PREDICTIONS: To judge by the pattern of opposition politics of the UNP type today, all political strategies appear to be based on the movement of planets and the advice of star gazers that revel in predictions of political success or failure.

As the conclusion of the first year of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s term of office approached last year, there were pundits in the UNP, well supported by astrological rags of the political firmament, making dire predictions of the imminent fall of the government.

None of these predictions were based on any actual political developments, other than the desire for power of the UNP leader, who has established an unrivalled position as the political leader with a commitment to being the longest in opposition.

There may be different views about the success of the Government’s policies vis-…-vis combating or containing the terrorism of the LTTE and the liberation of the East from the clutches of the Tigers.

All military operations are open to intelligent analysis. Whatever the critics may say about the progress of the Armed Forces in the East, there is no doubt that the successes reported from there are well received by the people.

It is in this context that all the doomsday prophecies of the political star gazers and their repetitions by political leaders, call into question the very commitment of these people to the fostering of intelligent debate on issues of governance.

These proponents of the immediate fall of the Rajapaksa Government either had the Ides of March in mind or other movements of the planets which would bring fortuitous results for the UNP’s much beleaguered leader.

A section of the media that was as desperate as the Green Leader for a change in the power equation in the country was full of these premonitions of doom for the government, and also building false beliefs among the public of the success of new and impossible coalitions of the retired and rejected in politics.

Little did these scribes realise that the Presidency had many more years left in its first term, and that parliament, far from being a threat to the Presidency, was fast moving towards an accommodation with it.

Signs of desperation

With the Ides of March gone having produced no threat to or change in the structure of government, the doomsayers began tailoring their prophecies to the planetary changes in the New Year.

While the movement of Pisces to the House of Aries is said to mark the dawn of the traditional New Year, there were many star gazers harnessed by the political opportunists of the opposition to send new messages to the people about a change in Government after the New Year.

The big noises of the UNP were promising green hued meals at the auspicious time in the New Year, and green times ahead for the people.

Knowing what that could mean, the people have remained unmoved. The auspicious times of the New Year have come and gone and all that is left to be seen is the utter futility of politicians who place their trust in the stars more than in the people as the means to political power. Such dependence on star gazing for political gain is best seen as the embodiment of desperation in the search for power.

Sights on Gotabhaya

With all the powers of the Zodiac unable to provide the fulcrum to topple the President and the Government from power, it appears there is new advice from the Consultant Star Gazers of the UNP, whether in Sri Lanka, India or Malaysia (or even Bhutan) that the new strategy should be to direct all attacks on the Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, rather than the President. Ergo, the continued attacks on him and the well orchestrated demands for his resignation.

It is not unusual for a person who has come from outside the ranks of the Public Service or the Defence Establishment to the position of Defence Secretary, to have more critics than would others appointed to such a place.

However, there is the need for some credibility in the criticisms made, as well as a proper assessment of the replacements suggested.

The demand by the UNP leader that Defence Secretary Rajapaksa resign or be removed, following the first LTTE air strike at Katunayake is as bad as the UNP’s criticism that President Rajapaksa’s proposal to have a common currency for South Asia violates the Constitution.

Yet, the Leader of the Opposition is entitled to make such a request, and it would be wrong to question his motives for it.

This new green thinking on defence would have the US Government replace its Defence Secretary or Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or even its key commander in Iraq no sooner the insurgents there brought down the first US chopper, showing their new fire power; or removing such officer whenever the insurgents used an Improvised Explosive Device, hitherto unknown to US military intelligence.

However, what causes consternation is why Ranil Wickremesinghe thought it fit not only to ask for the resignation of the Defence Secretary but also named the person who should be his successor, Janaka Perera, formerly of the Sri Lankan Army and also Ambassador in Australia.

Many human rights activists have thought it fit to have persistent amnesia about the various questions involving human rights associated with the name of the Wickremesinghe’s nominee for this office. Such bad memory is natural to most of the renters of human rights in Sri Lanka today.

But what is surprising is the complete silence that prevails about the very propriety of the Leader of the Opposition in a democracy, naming who should succeed the Secretary of Defence, after his removal as demanded by the same opposition leader.

The champions of democracy who are demanding Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s head on a platter to satisfy their stated desire for a functioning democracy, would do well to pause and ask themselves, whether they can agree with the gross impropriety of the Leader of the Opposition and the UNP naming Janaka Perera as the best successor to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in this office, or even naming anyone else.

The latest to join the chorus of those demanding the head of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is Dr. Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu of the Center for Policy Alternatives. He wants the Defence Secretary to go, over the disputed telephone conversation with the Editor of the Daily Mirror.

Saravanamuttu hankers for days past when any officer who made such a phone call would have resigned. It is said to happen in better or functioning democracies. Regrettably he gives no examples of such better days in Sri Lanka.

There can be so many arguments for and against the Defence Secretary over the Daily Mirror phone call episode.

But, by what extension of the imagination can it merit the removal of the Defence Secretary? In that other well-known democracy, all the key personnel in defence are still in place, despite a huge public outcry against the permission granted to the British sailors who were held captive by Iran to sell and profit by their stories.

No campaigners for human rights or policy alternatives there have demanded the resignation of anyone over the decision.

Whether it comes from the Leader of the UNP or a scribe from the CPA the focus is the same. Their sights are trained on Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. It is interesting to ask how there could be such a convergence of interests. What do the stars really foretell?